General Hardware Specifications of [HP Compaq nx6310 Notebook PC / model RH322EA ]:


Hardware Components


For a complete list : see http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12432_div/12432_div.HTML
or https://h10057.www1.hp.com/ecomcat/hpcatalog/specs/provisioner/05/RH322EA.htm   

Status under Linux


    * Intel® Celeron M 430 Processor     Works     No special procedure required during installation.
    * Mobile Intel® 945GM Express Chipset     Works     No special procedure required during installation.
    * 512 MB RAM     Works     No special procedure required during installation.
    * 60 GB Hard Disk 5400 rpm     Works     No special procedure required during installation.
    * DVD/RW DL     Works     No special procedure required during installation.
    * 15”’ TFT XGA+ Bright View    Works     No special procedure required during installation.
    * Intel® Media Accelerator 950 224MB shared     Works     No special procedure required during installation.

I had no need for wireless, or bluetooth - and was pretty happy as this configuration doesnt offer these features.

This laptop is operating under Kernel version [2.6.20]

Linux Debian Etch 4.0 stable is originally running on kernel 2.6.18 but with that release there are some issue with the acpi management - that are apparently fixed in the 2.6.20 kernel.

Basic Installation of [Linux Distribution]:


    * Why to use [Linux Debian Etch 4.0 stable]


I wanted a low bugdet laptop i could use for picture editing, browsing the internet, burning DVD, watching DVD.
There was no need for wireless, or bluetooth.
Because the laptop was pre-installed with DR-Dos,  i decided : "why not installing Debian ?"

    * Obtaining [Linux Debian Etch 4.0 stable]


Download from http://www.debian.org/CD/

    * Installing


Nothing special - the installation can be done in graphical mode using the option : installgui
otherwise its pretty straight forward.
I recommend 2 partitions : 1 for the system 7GB and the remaining 52GB for /home

more details on : http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/article/debian_as_a_desktop_system

 

    * Post-Install modifications/tweaks


Setting up additional features for [Linux Debian Etch 4.0 stable]

    * Getting Suspend-to-Disk to operate correctly would requires KPowersave, i couldn't manage to get the suspend-to-ram to work
you can find details on my troubleshooting with the acpi here : http://www.debian-administration.org/users/HWilton/weblog

my recommended applications/packages would be :

  • KDE environment
  • KPowersave (for acpi management)
  • K3b for dvd/cd burning
  • Vlc to watch dvd, movies, listen to mp3
  • Picasa for pictures/photo management
  • Gimp

    * Unresolved issues


    * Battery life is only 2h30
 

    * More Specific Informations:


    * df -hl

sh-3.1$ df -hl
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1             6.5G  2.7G  3.5G  45% /
tmpfs                 249M     0  249M   0% /lib/init/rw
udev                   10M   80K   10M   1% /dev
tmpfs                 249M     0  249M   0% /dev/shm
/dev/sda6              48G   23G   23G  50% /home

    * lspci

sh-3.1$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller AHCI (rev 01)
02:06.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCIxx12 Cardbus Controller
02:06.1 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments PCIxx12 OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
02:0e.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)

Contact Information


    * e-mail address : harold [dot] wilton [at] googlemail.com

Links:


    * Link to the laptop manufacturer : http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12432_div/12432_div.HTML

Impressions on the laptop in general 


Very happy with the design, the keyboard is large, and the overall look is very professional.
only 2 little things can be a pain : 

- the led in front could be a bit annoying while watching dvds
- and the brightview display is also tricky from certain angle.

Otherwise its perfect.